Finding her way
by erieANNA
Summary: Starts off after Heart, a slight twist/ retelling of what happened to Sam and Mercedes and how they found their way back to each other. Slight AU
1. What needs to be done

Hey all! This is my first samcedes story and I'm really in love with it, lol. I wasn't going to post but somehow I'm here. I've had this idea in my head since the writers have continued to mess with their plot. So in other words this is what I wanted to happen and the direction I felt made more sense. An slight of AU(Sam is a senior) yet most events are coming from the episodes. It's rated M for a reason (for times to come)and there will be kurtcedes and mertina and quinncedes (is that the right name?) Hope you enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter One. _What needs to be done._**

_During and after, Mercedes performance of "I will always love you"_

_You…..  
Darling I love you  
I'll always  
I'll always  
Love  
You..  
Oooh  
Ooohh_

_ Mercedes POV _

As much as I wanted to turn away from his burning eyes, I couldn't.

I tried countless times to look away, at the endless white tiles at his feet or at the hair that barely touched his eyes. I even tried to close my eyes and drift away from his gaze, but somehow our eyes met and each time something in me faded away, like I was losing this battle within myself. My heart was telling me something again and with everything in me, I could not understand it. I wanted to run to Sam and kiss away the pain and hurt-that I was the cause of. It was me, I'm the reason he's sitting here uneasy, his face stricken in agony. However, something in me held strong and gave me courage. I stood there in front of the glee members and sang, Whitney Houstons', " I will always love you". It was fulfilling another one of Mr. Shue's glee club assignments, but this song spoke to me in everyway. I chose it because for one it was my idol, my diva; but this song spoke to my heart as well. It allowed me to find truth of what my heart was saying.

It allowed me to finally see, that what I was doing to Shane was wrong.

I did love him, but it was not the kind of love that I felt for Sam. That I still feel for him.

So deeply and passionately that even if I stay with Shane, I would still fall short in loving him. _And nobody deserves that, Shane doesn't deserve that. _As I stood there singing the final words of this timeless love song. The strength that I had found in me started to crumble, standing there in front of everyone, me Mercedes Jones was vulnerable. My eyes burned and everything started to blur around me, but I could still see clearly the expression on Sam's face. Clear as day I watched the single tear roll down his cheek and just as quickly I watched him stand up and leave. The courage I had found was gone and my wall fell. I tried so hard to hold back to constant ache building in the back of my throat; to hold back the quiver at my bottom lip. My body worked against me and the tears came soon after; within minutes I was on the floor crying in pain. I didn't care who saw then and I didn't give a damn now. I felt someone touch my shoulder with a gentle squeeze.

"Mercedes—" Tina's voice was just above a whisper. I saw the tears in her eyes about to fall, when she then wrapped her arms around me tightly. Her tight hug made me feel better but it was when another set of arms wrapped around me just as tightly.

"We're here for you Mercedes" Kurt rested his head on my shoulder and in sync he moved along with Tina still on the floor in front of the other glee members.

* * *

"Mercedes is everything alright?" Mr. Shue stood from his seat, only to be given a reassuring glance from Kurt. He understood and decided to dismiss the glee club early and as everybody else got ready to leave, they left with quiet nods and sincere smiles to Mercedes. Even though at times she wanted to kill well hurt some of them, she was thankful they were in her life.

After a few minutes, they were the only ones left and now they rested in the seats in the front row of the choir room. Kurt had left in search of Sam, and Tina sat in comfortable silence with Mercedes.

She sat there with little movement starring at her feet. She just didn't understand how so many times in her head this seemed to be the right thing to do, but now Sam walking out was the only thing that constantly replayed in her head. It had hurt her but she didn't think it would completely tear her heart to shreds. Watching him walk away from her like that for the second time today was the nail to her heart, but why was she feeling like this when it's the right thing to do. _Was it_?

Mercedes had thought a lot about herself and her actions when she was alone. After the kiss and her constant thoughts of Sam, not Shane. She didn't like the person she was becoming or thinking of becoming, if that sounds right. When Sam showed no intention of stopping to win her back, she found herself wanting him to continue—wanting him period. He was all she thought about, no Shane and worse of all she didn't think of how it would make him feel if he knew this. That was the last straw for her, the nail in the coffin, how did she become this person. She cheated, something she promised herself she would never do. It was a kiss, yes but it was a kiss that was not shared with Shane, her boyfriend. The kiss she wanted to continue and would have if Tina had not texted her phone. That one kiss could have led to so much more and she would not have protested.

Mercedes didn't like that person. At all.

"I can't find him anywhere" An out of breath Kurt walked into the choir room, his face showing just how flustered he was. Mercedes met Kurt with a quick apologetic nod and rose to her feet to grab her backpack. Tina and Kurt stood and waited for Mercedes to walk behind them as they exited the room and headed out to the parking lot. They shared assuring glances at each other, completely understanding what the other was thinking.

"Do you want us to come over—surely we can talk this out" Kurt started as he reached for the handle of his car. Tina gave him a swift shake of the head to quiet his suggestion. Mercedes gave another half smile and opened the backdoor of her car to place her book bag inside.

"No—its fine really Kurt—I just need to be alone befor—" Mercedes dropped her book bag on the backseat as if something had hit her. She quickly dropped her head and gave another half smile, this one actually reaching her eyes. "I promise I'll be in a better mood tonight at breadstix" She placed her hand on the steering wheel playing with the short thread of purple fabric. "Okay cedes—but you know if you need a pep talk to call me right?" Tina placed her hand on top of Mercedes car. "I will" Mercedes replied.

* * *

Finally on the road Mercedes made her way home. She figured she could mope around for a few hours and cry then get ready to head to breadstix since she was suppose to perform with the god squad. She didn't really think about it until she got ready to leave school that she would again see Sam, unless he didn't show. Mercedes for a brief second uneven her breathing at just the thought of Sam avoiding her. Her best friend, ex-boyfriend avoiding her. He wouldn't do that would he? Sam always kept his word, would this be an exception? Focusing back on the road, nearing her house Mercedes felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and made a mental note to check it as soon she entered the house.


	2. Auntie Snix

So here's the next chapter, just wanted to say thanks for the reviews and alerts and messages on tumblr, lol. I decided to add fluff to this chapter and not angst. I really just wanted Sam and Mercedes to just talk instead of throwing looks at each other and also what all was going on inside her head in this episode. So technically this is heart part two. Enjoy =)

* * *

**Chapter two. _Auntie Snix_**

_**"Mercy I'm—"**_

"_**Its just that when you sung that song I—"**_

"_**This isn't going to be easy for us, is it? Look I'm sorry for walking out of there."**_

"_**I could explain or begin but—I'm so sorry Mercy"**_

Mercedes played the message over and over until it was completely recorded and analyzed in her brain, so easily she could repeat it over in her sleep. As soon as she entered the house and found the most worn clothes in her closet to throw on; Mercedes found herself at home alone. The note left by her parents saying they were at a sweetheart's ball for dentist/doctors and that they would be out late. Mercedes reached for her phone to quiet the constant reminder that she had a voicemail. Mindlessly looking through her closet for the dress she would wear to breadstix, she placed the phone on speaker to stick her head in the closet. Sorting through a couple of dresses, she heard it.

Immediately Mercedes did a double take over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't dreaming and this was in fact Sam's voice coming out of her phone. She stumbled reaching for the phone, to hold it to her chest and even out her breathing. Which she hadn't even noticed that her breathing was beyond irregular until her lungs forced her to breathe. Listening to Sam on her voicemail had made her heart skip a beat, her lungs cry for air and her brain completely melt to nothing. _He was sorry?_ Mercedes for a split second felt anger pierce through her heart. _That was all he could say?_ As the automatic voice started to give her options on what to do with the message she quickly pressed the repeat option.

Yes, Mercedes was mad at herself for what she did and almost agreed to do with Sam, but all he could say was sorry. Did he once think about his actions and what they did to her, the situation they both were now in? Yes, Sam pushing her was one of the reasons she realized her feelings for him were still there, and honestly had never really left to begin with. So maybe he was right to push her, maybe she was wrong to stay with Shane for so long knowingly that in the back of her mind she was comparing him to Sam. Mercedes could try and deny it and she did repeatedly in the beginning, but it was pointless.

Mercedes Jones was in love with Sam Evans.

Mercedes knew it and Sam knew it.

Pressing the end option on her screen, she placed the phone on her desk and steadied herself. She rubbed gentle circles just below her temples to try and release some of the tension that had seemed to come out of nowhere. She was not going to cry again, whether her body agreed with her or not. Going through her closet once more she focused all her energy on finding the most appropriate dress and accessories for tonight. She was going to walk into breadstix with her head held high, _but then what?_ she thought.

* * *

"Aretha get your butt in here" Santana placed her hand on the driver's window of Mercedes car. Mercedes hadn't even noticed that she had been sitting there for the past ten minutes, just staring at the passing by traffic. The second knock and Santana's spanish gibberish awakened her from her daze. Reaching for her cell and clutch, Mercedes pressed the automatic unlock button on her door and Santana obliged as she opened the door completely for her to get out.

"Wow somebody's tryna get some attention" Santana raised a brow to Mercedes ensemble. She motioned a silent whistle and fanned herself while avoiding the death glare she received.

"That damn trouty mouth" Santana leaned forward to close the door and guided her hand toward breadstix entrance, a signal for Mercedes to actually move.

"Is he in there—I mean does he seem okay?" Mercedes suddently found her black clutch more interesting. At home she had completely psyched herself up into believing she could actually go through this night without completely breaking down again. She actually made herself believe she could be okay around Sam, and not make things anymore awkward than they were. But now, knowing that she was so close to him and she didn't even see him made her stomach do cartwheels. What would she say?

"Oh he's in there alright entertaining Brittany with his impressions" Santana grimaced

"—while I'm out here getting you so you can sing me and my boo our song" Santana placed her hand on her hip. When she noticed that Mercedes had yet to move from beside her car, Santana felt the need to drop the sass from her voice. This person in front of her wasn't the "diva" she was use to and frankly she didn't like her one bit. Santana exhaling loudly reached for Mercedes hand, and started to brush her thumb gently over her knuckles. It was her way of saying she understood what was going on but also to make her not feel alone. It was when Mercedes squeezed her hand back and gave the half smile she was familiar with, Santana returned the gesture.

"Don't worry Aretha—I'm here as well as Quinn and Kurt—plus the Asian couple" Mercedes smile grew and she let out a soft chuckle. "You always know what to say—no matter how offensive"

Santana tilted her head to the side when she opened the door for Mercedes before saying.

"Auntie Snix always does"

* * *

The night actually wasn't half bad, considering the fact Quinn and Kurt promised to be on Sam duty all night. Each time Mercedes found herself in contact with Sam, either Quinn or Kurt would rush in to the rescue. Saving Mercedes from the awkward silence that enveloped them each time they found themselves by each other. Sam would nod in her direction and she would return the gesture with a half smile. Each time Sam would try to say something else; Kurt would be there to interrupt and pull Mercedes away as if he had to show her something. Mercedes would silently thank him and from there would find herself having fun dancing with Quinn or Joe, the new member in god squad.

However there were times when neither Quinn nor Kurt was able to save her. It started during the performance of Cherish, a serenade to the couple Brittany and Santana. It was beautiful, Mercedes thought and there soft choreography they had practiced before was flawless. But Sam ended up changing places with Joe at the last minute, placing himself right beside her during the ending of the song. She tried to ignore him being there and figured it was just Sam's bad memory. However his eyes burning a hole into the side of her head, had to have been planned. Each time she sang, his eyes were on her, she could feel it. Which was easy to ignore, but throughout the performance Mercedes found herself wanting to look into Sam's eyes as well. So she settled for the awkward side gaze to confirm he really was starring directly at her, no shame and definitely not subtle about it.

After they finished the song, Quinn and Joe started dancing their way toward the other couples. She figured Kurt must be close by and taking a quick glance around he was, but Kurt sat idle at a table deep in thought. Guilt soon replaced the panic feeling in her, when she thought of her best friend missing his boyfriend. She felt bad because he was trying to keep her from Sam and she completely ignored the fact that Kurt was here without his Blaine.

"Mercedes—" Mercedes thoughts came to a complete halt in her head, as she took in his voice. Damn him for calling her name when she was trying not to think about him, Damn Sam.

"Hmm" She replied still looking toward her distraught friend, placing the microphone back on the stand in front of her. Taking a step off the stage in the direction of Kurt's table, Mercedes kept her head forward but lingered back a bit, curious as to why he called her name.

"Can we talk? Like outside alone—or here if you don't want to be alone—near me it's—" Sam's voice started to trail off. Mercedes figured she only had two options at the moment; brush him off and head for the table with Kurt or actually get some answers from Sam. Damn her curious mind, she chose option number two. Kurt really didn't look too happy, but Mercedes heart kept pulling her back to Sam. "Okay—meet me outside in five. I just have to make sure my plan is still green." Mercedes threw one finger up at him before stepping down off the stage, in the direction of Sugar, there new member in glee club. She didn't know the girl very well, but after a few conversations they found some common ground between the two. Also, since she was paying for everything, Sugar was the right person to go to for this surprise to be perfect.

"Is he on his way—" Mercedes whispered giving a half smile to those around her, not to blow her cover. Sugar replied with a swift nod and eager smile as she leaned her head toward the door, to whisper back. "Another twenty minutes" Sugar eased away from Mercedes after giving her another smile and started to dance with Rory. Mercedes found herself walking into the direction of the exit and then off to where she parked earlier. There beside her car, she found him standing there deep in thought. She rolled her eyes at how in a situation like this, he still found a way to remain cute and he most likely didn't even know it. The thought made her giggle a bit and it was loud enough for Sam to hear, since his eyes found hers.

"So—" Mercedes began closing the gap between the two, she watched as he leaned back on her car mindlessly rubbing at the paint. He dropped his eyes from hers and exhaled quietly before his hand found its way to the back of his head playing with the hair on his neck. Mercedes grinned at the gesture, he was nervous and she found that cute as well.

"I don't want this to be awkward—so just hear me out okay. After this I'll leave and won't both—"

"Sam talk" Mercedes interrupted him. She hoped it didn't show in her face that she was afraid he was leaving again because of her and this time for good. She could not allow that to happen, not now.

After a second nod and eye roll from Mercedes he began his explanation.

"I'm sorry for pushing you and for making you admit to the feelings you still had for me. It was wrong and disrespectful to your boy—friend Shane, and for that I'm sorry." He stumbled a bit over the usage of boyfriend as that made his blood boil, but he needed to get this out.

"I love you—you know that but I can't see you with Shane when I know in your heart—deep down you want to be with me. Those feelings never left and I'm sorry because I was jealous finding out about him, but I had to at least try. I mean... yeah when I first came back to McKinley I wasn't sure, but when I saw you in the hallway something pulled me to you, so I grabbed your hand." Sam paused to read her expression and when he sensed she was calm he continued.

"For a second you didn't pull away I thought I had a chance in fact I knew—but then you started to talk about us and what we had was in the past, for a minute I believed you—" Sam cringed at the thought.

"Then why didn't you stop in the hallway—right the,n if you believed me?" She asked, folding her arms in front of her, her lips in a tight line.

"Because when you were talking to me you never once looked me directly in the eye Mercy. It was a short glance here and there but you never looked into my eyes, that's why I didn't believe you then and every other time after that." Sam stepped a bit closer to her, placing both his hands at her waist. Her body reacted immediately and she leaned into his embrace, but still kept a comfortable amount of space between them.

"When we were together—you would always look up at me with those big brown doe like eyes—" His voice lowered to a mere whisper, causing Mercedes to look up directly into his green orbs. Removing one of his hands from Mercedes waist, Sam got bold and decided to try something. He went for it, letting his fingers brush across the soft chocolate skin at her cheek. She did it again, Sam thought, she melted into his embrace more and his confidence level only increased. He gave her a sly smirk before continuing the motion on her skin and smiled even harder when she touched his hand and let out a soft giggle.

"See like right now—I still got it" Sam used his other hand still at her waist to close the gap completely between the two. He groaned internally at how soft she felt against his hard body but at how right and at home the feeling really was. He missed this, and everyday in Kentucky Sam regretted giving this up.

Mercedes head now rested on his chest, her hands played with the edges of his black button down shirt. She still had so many questions, but for now settled for this.

"Sam—"

"This doesn't mean we're back together—" Mercedes started to gather her words, but only to be interrupted by Sam. He knew exactly where this was going, actually he expected it.

"I know—I got it—I messed up for pushing you into cheating—everything—" He exhaled softly, before continuing. "You need time—and I'm going to give you just that. I understand now and I think maybe I need to do some soul searching as well" Sam saw her eyebrows come together and he couldn't help but laugh. "Sammm—" She whined.

"I'm serious, Mercy" He leaned down to place a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"We both need to—before we officially get back together" His tone was more of a question than a statement. Mercedes looked up at him one last time, narrowing her eyes at him before giving him a small grin. "You're crazy" She giggled backing away from him when she felt Sam's phone vibrate in his pocket.

"Crazy for you, Mz. Jones" He drawled, lifting a finger toward her.

* * *

After their "Love Shack" performance and Kurt's surprise, guest Blaine. For the rest of the night, Sam and Mercedes felt like they could breathe and let loose around each other. Neither wanting to avoid each other and found themselves actually having fun together. Sam keeping his promise to give her distance, kept the funny business to himself. But Mercedes would notice if she moved too close to him while dancing or happened to touch him somewhere, he would bite his lip, hard. She had to admit it made her laugh and her cheeks warm.

_**He was trying, for her**_.


	3. Two steps forward

This chapter is centered around _the episode, On My Way; _also we're one step closer to them being back together. Some of the dialogue is actually from the episode, lol.

Enjoy =)

* * *

Chapter three. Two steps forward,

That following week the glee club and drama seemed to be getting out of hand, somehow they were dealing with black mail from the warblers plus Finn and Rachel's wedding mess and Sue Sylvester being pregnant added just took everybody by surprise. With the way things were going everybody was on edge and started to fear the worse.

And then something did happen.

The stories started spreading like wild fire around McKinley about Dave Kurofsky. About his failed suicide attempt and the reason behind it. The more people talked about it, the more Kurt's name was brought into the mix and the more everybody's spirit seemed to be pushed down to new lows. Something had to give and quick.

When Kurt voiced how hurt and affected he was to Mercedes and the rest of the God Squad, she felt for her beloved friend. It had been so long since she had seen him this shaken and upset, it made her angry for now seeing this. She suspected some things about Dave and even wanted to call him out about it, but now it seemed she was too late. Mercedes hated feeling useless, she hated the way this played out. And it showed during the god squad meeting, Sam immediately sensed how hurt she was, was there for her. He had thought about his agreement to stay distant until she was ready, but just seeing Mercedes this way. Fuck the agreement, he thought. His Mercy was hurting so that meant, he was as well. After everyone left to get ready to head to the hospital, Mercedes and Sam were the only ones left in the classroom. She sat there, her head resting on Sam's shoulder. For a few minutes they sat there in a comfortable silence just taking in everything. Sam wrapped his arm around her a little tighter when he noticed her eyes started to fill with unshed tears, and when the quiet sobs came soon after he made his grip even tighter.

"I'm here, Mercy" Sam spoke over her, his lips barely touching her forehead. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug and pulled herself closer to him. "Thank you" Her voice was so small and baby like, he cringed at how broken it was.

* * *

The next glee club meeting, Sam and Mercedes were prepared for the next obstacle to be thrown their way. Everybody sat motionless, waiting for Mr. Shue to make some dreadful announcement on how once again something was wrong.

"Tell them—" Mr. Shue smiled at Quinn. His sudden eagerness and excitement had everybody confused. Mercedes glanced back at Sam warily, and he returned it with the same expression.

"I got into Yale!" Quinn announced, her voice going higher with each word.

The announcement was met with a round of applause and shocked faces. Finally a bit of good news to be happy about. Mercedes wasted no time to run up and hug her soul sister, and was immediately surprised when it was returned.

"I'm so happy, cedes" Quinn spoke into Mercedes hair, still deep into the hug as she didn't want to let go. She didn't want to let go of the person that got her there, the person that made her realize she was worth it. Quinn loved her soul sister.

"No fabray—you did it" Mercedes wiped the tear that was about to fall and ruin her make up. Quinn picked her head up, already in tears and on the verge of shedding more shook her head.

"But you cedes—have helped me in so many ways. You talked me into applying when I felt it was pointless. I realized I was the only one standing in the way of myself. You saved me from—" Quinn's voiced faded and Mercedes nodded, as she understood everything she wanted to say. Quinn only pulled her closer, just savoring the moment a little longer. They finally were able let out a laugh when they felt the hands of the other glee members, all coming in for a group hug.

Everybody except Rachel.

* * *

"Feeling better" Sam stepped beside her locker door as she placed her book inside from the previous class, and grabbed her homework for the weekend. The beginning of this week was crazy but somehow it changed drastically. She looked up and smiled at him, this one actually warm and genuine. The smile he loved picturing and hoped to see everyday. "Yeah—actually I feel good now" Sam brought his brows together, confused on her slight change in tone toward him. She was now looking up at him with mischief in her eyes, and he didn't know what to think.

"What is this—change, Mercy?" Sam questioned.

"What change?" Mercedes responded, closing her locker to head toward the exit. She motioned for him to follow. It didn't take long for Sam to get the hint, so he quickly raced to her side and grabbed her hand.

"This—you—space, ring any bells?" Sam adjusted the book bag on his back and swung his hand that was laced with Mercedes up, for her to see. When she looked down at them joined, she smiled to herself again causing Sam to slow his pace a bit.

Mercedes caught his side gaze, and shook her head—he was clueless. "Today in our little circle—I don't know, its really been making me think" Her voice so calm, it made Sam's heart spike. "Oh—about?"

"The future—and what I want—hope will go right this time" She arched her brow at him as they walked to her car in the parking lot. Sam caught on quickly, tossing the look of understanding at her. He was still a little confused, but hearing Mercedes mention "future", he could only imagine. "Any chances of me being in this future you speak of?" Sam egged on her questionable tone, a smirk at his lips when he heard her giggle.

"Oh—yeah sure" He knew she was being silly, but decided to give into it anyway. He stopped walking, and it caused her to come to a complete stop. "Oh I'm jumping for joy at your excitement Mercedes" His lips formed into a pout, he tried so hard to hold it when he saw her try to stifle back a laugh. So he stuck his bottom lip out further, and she lost it dropping their entwined hands to cover her mouth.

And for a few moments, he did feel like she was playing with him hard; so it was only perfect he get her back.

"I amuse you" Sam folded his arms, breaking his gaze from her he walked his way toward his truck. Hearing her sniffle and try to catch her breath from laughing really did something to him.

"Sammy" Her voice in a slight whine, Sam rolled his eyes and continued on to his truck. Once he turned around, he almost fell over in laughter at her face in a pout and both her arms held out toward him. "You're lucky I love you, Mz. Jones" He drawled before closing the space between the two, placing a small peck on the top of her head. He felt her grin into his chest and decided now was a perfect time. When he broke away from her hug, he looked down into her brown hues and placed another kiss at her nose. When she giggled again, he decided to continue. Sam moved his head lower and placed a kiss at the corner of her mouth, and when he felt her shiver in his grasp he laughed to himself. Mindlessly he walked her back to her car, not breaking eye contact with her as he placed another kiss at the other corner of her mouth. When she was resting up against the vehicle, he figured there was no escape. So he went for it, where his desire was burning to go. Sam looked at the one thing he wanted to taste since he got here, the soft plump and dangerous lips of Mercedes. It was driving him mad not being able to touch them.

Mercedes caught wind of his plan when she realized she was backed into her car, and Sam's body was the only thing holding her to it. She narrowed her eyes at him and started to shake her head at his attempts, when suddenly she was cut off.

He placed a gentle kiss on her lips, resting his forehead against hers. It was quick but their lips lingered on each others that they both tensed at how good it felt. He went for it again pulling her bottom lip into his mouth and gently allowed his tongue to trace the softness of it. Mercedes hummed in pleasure and lust into the kiss. Her lungs filled rapidly causing her to smile against his lips.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that" Sam opened his eyes to look back into hers that were already open. Mercedes couldn't help but take another look down at his lips, now somewhat covered with her lipstick. She wanted to go in for another, but the thought of going too fast came to mind; and her phone going off for the third time.

"Damn—Kurt" Mercedes hand rested on Sam's chest and gave him a push, allowing her to stand up right. Sam exhaled loudly before sucking in the air through his teeth. Technically this was like way beyond his plan, but Sam couldn't help but feel defeated by Kurt.

Pushing himself from Mercedes car, he chuckled to himself wiping off the gloss with the back of his hand. "So close" He thought.

"Sorry—Kurt needs me for regional's wardrobe" Mercedes gave him her best puppy dog expression. Sam rolled his eyes at her using one of his techniques against him, one that he mastered.

Mercedes felt bad for having to leave him, so she pulled Sam's shirt causing him to fall roughly back to her. Their lips met again except this time they both were hungry for more, they both wanted to explore everything they missed; only time played against them. No longer were there soft chaste pecks, both completely giving into desires at this point. Mercedes sucked and pulled at Sam's bottom lip, her hands both fisted into his shirt pulling him completely against her. She continued to explore and play with his tongue until she felt his finger on hers, trying to get her to release his shirt. When she sensed what he was doing, she tightened her grip on him.

"Mercy" Sam finally broke away, out of breath his eyes searching hers. She wanted it just as much as he did. It was hard not to fulfill her wish, extremely hard. "Right" She said, her lips still touching his. "Yeah Kurt" Sam agreed nodding finally getting her to release his shirt, pushing his self away.

When Sam finally made it to his truck, and watched Mercedes as she got ready to drive away. He had this weird feeling of calling his mom and dad, they would definitely want to hear about his day.


	4. Regionals

Hey all, once again thanks for the reviews and alerts etc. I'm really interested in knowing what you think and suggestions on what you would like to happen, because the last two episodes have really disappointed me. So this chapter is mostly fluff w/ samcedes, mentions of tike, brittana. Centered around the episode, On my way)

=)

* * *

**Chapter four. Regionals**

The theme for regionals this year was inspiration, and with the way things had been going for the past couple of weeks it was what kept them together. The incident with Dave made every squabble they argued about in glee club seem trivial. Every complaint when things didn't go their way seemed pointless, because everyone got the reality check they needed. Well, Mercedes did.

The warblers front man Sebastian made peace with the New Directions, when he realized it was not a game anymore. When lives were involved, it turned into a game nobody really wanted to play. Things like a winning at regionals at all cost didn't seem so tempting anymore.

Things were starting to get back to the norm and for once New Directions felt more than confident they would be victorious at Regionals.

* * *

Mr. Shue gathered everybody up before they were to go on in a matter of seconds. They were the final show choir to perform and even though they got to witness the Warblers kill their performance. New Direction couldn't wait to take the stage and show just how much this win meant to them. That with everything the glee club encountered the past weeks, they were still there and stronger than ever.

"Okay—uh Finn, you wanted to start us off." Mr. Shue closed off the circle, to give Finn the floor. A look of confusion hit everyone's face at once, but immediately resolved when the announcement was made that not weeks later but right after competition; Finn and Rachel were getting married.

After a few raised eyebrows and frowns, everybody decided to attend the wedding. Sam was one of the few that frowned at the announcement, but it wasn't really at Rachel and Finn.

It was when he noticed the growing smile at Mercedes lips. The way she looked at Rachel made him wonder just what was she thinking. Marriage?

Pushing away the thought of upcoming nuptials, Sam placed his hand in for one last hoorah before they left for the stage.

Mercedes lingered back a bit and caught Sam's hand, so they walked to their places together before the curtains opened. She rubbed soothing circles across the back of it, and he responded by squeezing back tighter. "Good luck kiss" Sam leaned down to place a kiss at her cheek. He paused for a second to see what her response would be.

When Mercedes tilted her head to the side, his smile grew and he went in for just a small peck. It was small and innocent, but still got the attention of Kurt and Quinn.

"Sam—stop tryna tongue Mercedes down. No repeats of nationals you two" Quinn chastised as she turned her back to take her place off stage.

Kurt winked at Mercedes before giving her a small grin; she responded with a sheepish giggle. When she started to make her way toward her place beside Quinn, Sam pulled her back a little.

Before Mercedes could respond, his lips met hers in a lingering kiss that made her knees wobble. Mercedes immediately smiled against his lips, and kissed him back just basking in the softness of them. "Cherry chapstick" She murmured against his lips. After two more soft pecks, Sam pulled away.

"Just a little more luck to get me through the performance" Sam shot her a devious smirk, only to be answered by Mercedes rolling eyes and Brittany's finger waving back and forth in his direction.

* * *

**And their performance began.**

The crowd loved the mash up of "I believe I can fly/Fly," Receiving nothing but praise from the audience. The warblers were the first to stand and clap, sending an unintended wave of applause from others around. Their performance really did touch some and even made Sue Sylvester's heart move.

Next up were the most anticipated trouble tones number, "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson. Mercedes never admitted but some of the most fun she had was with her trouble tones sisters; Santana, Brittany and Sugar. She missed New Directions, but the bond she built with them was just unexplainable. During their performance, Mercedes would look off to the side and spot a pair of green eyes starring back lovingly at her. It made her smile and her cheeks warm because she knew they would be there, even when she wasn't in New Direction they were.

Finally the finale, "Here's to us." Their big number had finally arrived, and Mercedes couldn't wait. The crowd had already stood up before the music started, as if they figured this number would be the one. And they were right, all the girls stood on stage singing their hearts out. This song meant something to everybody, it was clear as day it meant something to Rachel, not taking her eyes off of Finn who stood above her in the balcony. But Tina as well, when she could barely contain her smile when Mike mouthed the words, "I love you" and enclosed a little heart on his chest. Santana and Brittany held hands and sang to each other.

Mercedes didn't have to look far to see those green eyes starring back at her. She smiled singing the words before pointing right back at him, receiving a bashful smile back. Sam placed his hand over his heart, singing back to Mercedes.

When the song ended and they exited the stage, everyone's nerves seemed to push forward.

"We have this" Santana sang into Brittany's shoulder.

Taking their places on the stage beside the other choirs, the glee kids could only smile and wait for the answer they were waiting to hear.

"And now the moment you've all waited for—" The man with the cape draped over his shoulders spoke. The tension among everyone, suddenly increased.

Mercedes gripped Sam's hand tighter, her eyes closed.

"The 2012 Midwest Regional champions from McKinley High" Was all that was needed to be said, for the glee club to jump, scream and cry for joy. The warblers sent their good jobsand respect. Blaine made his way over to his brothers, and finally **ended it** with Sebastian. They could respect one another and move on from this moment, they could respect the better choir won.

Sam was happy, beyond ecstatic of the win he would share with his new family; but the only person he wanted to celebrate with was Mercedes. He watched back silently as she jumped and hugged Kurt, then Tina but when their eyes met and that smile grew across her face that he loved to see. He lost it. Taking her into his arms, not caring who was to watch; he kissed her. He lifted her up higher in his arms, never breaking the connection of want. When Mercedes showed no indication of pulling away, he gently swiped his tongue across her bottom lip for entrance into hers. Mercedes arms draped around his shoulders, hummed into the kiss allowing him to enter and met her already awaiting tongue. The kiss deepened and lingered on for a moment longer until Sam felt someone tug at Mercedes.

"We needed to save her before trouty swallowed her whole" Sam frowned to see Santana had one of Mercedes hands and Tina had the other. Before he could protest, Mercedes threw him a small grin and brief wave until she disappeared in the curtains. Sam felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see it was Mike.

"Don't even try" Mike released him, when he noticed the eagerness in Sam.

So he gave in, for now.

* * *

All the girls were in one room scrambling about, putting on finishing touches of make up and hair. All dressed in pink they watched Rachel pace the room in a nervous rant about Quinn being late. Minutes after everyone arrived, it was then noticed that Quinn was not there yet and Rachel quickly texted her to find out her whereabouts.

"Ran home to get my bridesmaid dress. Be there soon." –**Quinn**

Rachel read aloud, before starting her pace up again. When the girls were all standing idle and ready, each walked out behind Rachel as they made their way toward the boys and both Rachel and Finn's parents. Mercedes couldn't help but smile when she caught eye of Sam standing off with Mike. She eyed him head to toe in that simple black/white suit that made him seem—dashing, mature. Hers—well he will be, Mercedes thought. She frowned at the words in her head, but liked the sound of them. Sam was hers and now remembering what he asked her in the hallway made everything come full circle. He mentioned marriage to her, but now Mercedes was really thinking about Sam proposing.

"You think you're gonna get married someday?"

"After I win my first grammy"

"You have any idea on who the guys gonna be, cause` I know this awesome dude who does great impressions and is totally into you"

Mercedes laughed at the memory, loud enough to catch the eyes of Tina and the rest of the girls. Covering her mouth, she smiled before looking off elsewhere. She had to laugh at Sam's silliness, but at how just now she was really thinking about what he said. But Mercedes had to stop or her mind would drift somewhere that wasn't needed, when she thought about the mention of a tilt-a-whirl. She still had a mark on her leg to show for that one incident.

Shaking the thoughts, she caught eye of Finn approaching them.

"Finn out! You can't see the bride before the wedding." Mercedes spoke over the other girls; they scrambled to cover Rachel.

"I've already seen her" Finn replied.

The boys followed in behind him, as if they were all ready to begin; all without Quinn. After Finn's warning of them about to lose their spot, "It's now or never" he said. Rachel tried to text Quinn one last time to try and see if she were there or somewhere close. Finn began pacing about the room while Rachel toyed with her phone a little more. Mercedes thought she was about to cry, until she handed the phone to Santana and reached for Finn's hand.

"Let's go" A weak smile plastered across her face.

As everybody walked toward the courtroom, nervous whispers were heard and everybody just went into motion; not really knowing what to say. Before Mercedes could reach for her phone she felt Sam's hand on hers. She smiled when she noticed he stayed back for her and rose to her feet to walk with him to join the others.

"Mercy—you look beautiful." Sam bit the side of his mouth, as he twirled her around in the pink dress. He spinned her around and they met chest to chest. Mercedes laughed into the spin, and rose up on her feet to whisper teasingly in his ear. "And you in this suit, is doing things to me" She touched his earlobe with her lips, letting her tongue gently swipe it. When she heard his breathing catch in his throat, it made her grin internally. Sam already started to respond, wrapped his arms around her and they walked murmuring phrases of what Sam could do to her in that dress or once she got out of it. Her choice.

They stopped in the hallway with everyone else, waiting for Finn and Rachel's next move. Their slot was in the next five minutes and by the look on both their faces they were anxious. Mercedes and Sam somehow lost the ability to care when they found themselves off in their own little world. Sam's lips had been planting kisses from her jaw line down to her neck, and were about to make their way to her shoulder when he heard Rachel say.

"I'm not ready" Everybody sighed loudly. Mercedes broke away from Sam without him knowing, since he was stuck in the conversation before him between Finn and Rachel. He didn't even notice Mercedes small cry over the phone and when Tina and Kurt ran over to her. Sam looked back to see Mercedes at her feet crying.

"Mercy—what happened?" Sam wasted no time at being by her side. He kneeled in front of her and placed his hands at the side of her face to bring her gaze to his. Tina now had Mercedes phone was talking shrilly into it, holding back tears of her own. Sam watched the girl walk back and forth and between her and Mercedes he grew confused.

Finn and Rachel's problems no longer mattered. The rest of the group had noticed something was wrong and when Finn searched Tina's face for answers, she just looked to Mercedes.

"Mercy tell me what's wrong?" Sam shook her a bit, when her crying grew louder. The group now surrounding them.

"It's Quinn—she's been—been" Mercedes tried to speak over her sobs but the air and her words weren't coming together. "What about Quinn?" Rachel's voice spoke over everyone.

"Tell`em Tina" Mike pushed the hair out his girlfriends face.

"She's been in—a car—accident" Tina crashed into Mike's shoulder and missed the dagger eyes everyone threw her and Mercedes. When the words finally left Tina's mouth, Mercedes lost it.


	5. Soul Sista

Sorry for the wait, anyway some of this chapter's dialogue is from the episode Big Brother

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter five. Soul sisters stick together.**

Quinn survived and the wedding never happened.

The glee club found themselves at the hospital everyday checking upon their beloved Quinn. For the first couple of days no one really knew much about what happened. No one really knew how to react to this, but threw out complete frustration. They all came together.

When word was passed around that Quinn had awakened, a breath of ease went among the members. The news passed by Quinn's older sister let everyone know that she had in fact had been hit because of texting while driving. It didn't finally hit everyone on how it happened until the words, "I'm on my way" were revealed as Quinn's last text. Rachel on hearing those words broke down that day at the hospital, immediately taking the fault to Quinn lying in the hospital bed. Some showed sympathy towards Rachel, but others like Santana felt it was another reason to despise the ground she walked on.

Mercedes had to step in and offer calming words to Santana, or another fight would have broken out. And this time Mercedes was not too sure there would be anybody to break it up. So, during the following weeks Mercedes found herself at the hospital everyday at five and would stay till seven. It wasn't a surprise when the first person Quinn asked for was Mercedes, but that was the only person she really wanted to see and talk to. It hurt Rachel, but she didn't argue and stayed her distance sending her love through Mercedes.

Sam was there as well, helping whenever he could and offer a shoulder for Mercedes to rest on when she was tired. He drove her to and from the hospital each day, and tried to keep her spirits up when Quinn's condition didn't change.

* * *

After many prayers and tears, Quinn did get stronger. Mercedes watched each day as her soul sister grew stronger in front of her. Demanding to now do things on her own, no matter how much it hurt and that everything was sore—or over the fact that she couldn't feel her legs yet. The doctors told her that her spine was severely compressed due to the accident, they told her the possible outcomes of what could happen. But Quinn denied them all and only stuck to one possible option; that she would in fact walk again—she had to.

Mercedes although she had her worries and moments of denial started to believe Quinn as well. She would watch silently by as her best friend would try and move; and no matter how much she wanted to run up and help her, she would bite her tongue and tears back to watch. It was a struggle, yes, but she knew Quinn could do it.

The day they released her from the hospital Quinn was moving around on her own. In her wheelchair Quinn was able to regain some of herself back, and she even had a smile to show for it. Mercedes decided to stay distant when she got use to the chair, only pushing it if Quinn asked. Sam would give her pep talks on how to stay positive, and they did help some.

"Ready to return back to McKinley?" Sam asked, helping Quinn's mom with her overnight bags.

Quinn frowned a little before, sighing into the air above her, "Ready as I'll ever be."

Mercedes broke her strong demeanor for a moment to hug Quinn tightly. She tried to swallow back the aching burn in her throat, but it was winning when the tears reached her eyes. "I'm okay, promise" Quinn rubbed gentle circles on her back. She met Mercedes eyes with a smile that was genuine, and it made Mercedes smile as well.

"I know you are." Sam pulled Mercedes closer, noticing that certain tremble in her voice.

* * *

Everything was finally back to—well normal. It was a little strange seeing Quinn in a wheel chair but everybody decided she was just the same person. The chair didn't change her at all. Rachel still felt the need to cry and put a damper on moods of everyone around her; but Mercedes was use to Rachel being the extra drama queen and ignored her. She spent most of her time keeping Santana away from her throat to actually be irritated.

The mood in glee club actually was actually at a good place now that everyone started planning senior ditch day.

"We all know why we're here—I've waited five years for this. I want ideas for senior ditch day—go" Puck took a seat beside Mercedes, closing in their little secret circle in the back of the library. After some Broadway theme scavenger hunt idea Kurt suggested, Santana turned it down with a, "That sounds like torture" insult.

"Footloose movie marathon—footloose—footloose 2011" Mike rose from his seat, not missing a single confused eye from the rest of the unenthusiastic glee members.

"Avatar and Star wars movie marathon" Sam dropped his book bag from his shoulder, but stopped as he received the same response as Mike.

"What about a non-alcoholic pub crawl ?" Mercedes suggested next. Sam held in his chuckle at the idea. Really Mercedes no alcohol, really? He thought.

"Its senior ditch day—not senior citizens ditch day" Puck answered.

After Brittany's strange suggestion, Rachel decided to say something. Damn her, everyone thought. Mercedes rolled her eyes and caught the attention of Quinn so she quickly raised her brow at her to calm down. She complied but still threw death glares at Rachel, who once again felt the need to state the obvious and bring everybody down. Sam placed his hands on Mercedes shoulders from behind and gave them a gentle squeeze. "Relax, Mercy" He whispered.

"I am re—laxed." Mercedes spoke through clenched teeth, trying her best to smile back at him. He wasn't phased when he saw her fist clench at her sides. Sam leaned forward, brushing his fingers down her arm and wrapped his pale hands around her tiny fists.

"What are you doing?" Mercedes voice just under a whispered, she watched him nuzzle closer until his lips met the curve of her neck. "Nothing—god you smell really good today, Mercy" She felt Sam grin against her smooth skin.

Everybody around them still deep in the conversation about senior ditch day, didn't notice Mercedes soft giggles. Sam brushed her hair to the side to show much appreciation to the chocolate smooth skin underneath. Raising one brow, he looked down to see her fists unclenched as they both were planted flatly on the couch she rested on. Sam then took the time to kiss and suck at the tender skin and use his teeth to mark her. She didn't resist tilting her head to the side to allow him more space at her. But before she could even give in and enjoy it.

"Now we are ditching as planned. I think we should go to six flags." Quinn announced, receiving quick approval from everyone. "Alright Fabray's decided, Six flags it is—meeting adjourned" Puck rose dismissing everyone except Finn.

Mercedes rose from her seat to meet Quinn half way, stopping Sam from continuing anything he planned to finish. Before he could digress she was talking to Quinn and Tina about something, Sam dropped his head into the couch. Why did she have to have so many friends, and why did they need her now? Sam thought. Now he had to continue back to class, since his plan of getting Mercedes to skip was out of the question.

* * *

After finding out that Coach Sylvester had taken over booty camp everybody decided to just prepare for the harsh beatings they would have to endure. Hearing Sylvester's name attached to anything dealing with the glee club meant intense verbal and physical torture and pain.

And they were right, Mercedes' droid, may it RIP; was the first to taste Sylvester's wrath. Sam taking a brutal lashing and down the line from there, everyone from Rachel, Kurt had it coming.

So they steadied themselves for today's glee meeting and was beyond surprised to find out they would be all be joining an acting class taught by none other than Blaine's older and more famous brother, Cooper.

Everyone had their own fangirling moments over Cooper, even Mercedes and Sam. Kurt was the most excited to work with Cooper since he was not subtle at all in his advances in showing he was his biggest fan. It was obvious Blaine was not happy or amused. And that Mercedes found hilarious.

So she watched and actually played attention to some of the lessons, although when Tina became a dead victim of a crime scene Mercedes found herself elsewhere being entertained by her new phone. It wasn't interesting for her anymore and half the things Cooper was saying just sounded plain stupid to be honest. He was in one damn commercial, she thought. So she busied herself with work from other classes and college applications she realized she was putting off.

Deciding to stay on task and focus solely on her work, she hadn't noticed the constant vibrate in her pocket or that a blonde was approaching her table. Sam frowned into his phone, when he spotted Mercedes sitting alone in the back of the library. He had wondered where she had gone off to during glee earlier.

"Mercy—" Sam stopped before he reached her table, to look around at just how alone they actually were. When she didn't notice him still, Sam decided there would be no interruptions this time; it was perfect.

Mercedes filling out the last of her applications, mindlessly started humming the words of a Whitney Houston song felt pair of hands brush her hair off her shoulder. When she realized the cologne of musk and vanilla from herself, it made her smile. "Sam what are—?" His arms wrapped around her from behind, causing her breathing to hitch in her throat. Sam's lips met that exact spot behind her ear that he had missed earlier and now was showing much attention to it.

Mercedes hissed through clenched teeth, the heat she had been trying to hold back rushing to her face among other places. She stifled back a moan when she felt his teeth tug at her earlobe and subconsciously arched her back when his hands rubbed her inner thighs.

"Samm—" She whispered, reaching up to grab the back of his head, giving his hair a rough pull. When he pulled away from her, Mercedes whimpered internally from the missed contact of his lips. He slid in beside her, pulling her into his lap.

"What—I've been missing you, Mercy" Sam starred her lips freshly coated with a lip-gloss he was dying to know the flavor of.

"I saw you this morning" She spoke, her voice low and seductive. Mercedes couldn't help but stare at his lips and up into his darken green hues.

"That's not—" Sam moved closer to her, looking up into her brown eyes for confirmation to continue. She moved closer.

"what I meant" Sam's lips brushed up against hers in a teasing manner, Mercedes gave in first letting the lust build within her. She didn't care that somebody could easily walk up to see them, and she didn't not care when she would have to explain her kiss swollen lips and messed up hair. Kurt would know regardless, Tina as well because she did the same constantly.

His lips covered hers again and a moan of approval escaped Mercedes as he left a trail of heat to her jaw line and down to the curve of her neck. She hissed silently when he touched her favorite spot already tender from the mark he tried to make earlier. Mercedes then felt the need to remove something anything so she moved forward, shrugging off her red blazer. She wanted his hands on her, all over her and now.

"Mercy—" Sam tugged at her bottom lip when he felt her move against the bulge forming in his jeans. For weeks they ended up like this, and always at this exact moment she would stop before things got out of hand.

Today however was different. When Sam tried to pull away—Mercedes moved closer. When he tried to slow down her hips that were content in driving him mad, in a continuous slow grind; she moved her hips harder against him. Sam was starting to lose all control—completely.

Mercedes cupped his face bringing him closer and deeper in the kiss. She felt the outcome of her risky ness poking at her thigh and smiled against his lips. Finally opening his eyes, he looked into her teasing brown ones.

"I should probably go—you know" Sam breathlessly spoke against her lips. Mercedes frowned a bit before she gave a small peck to his swollen bottom lip. "I could help you—ya`know" Mercedes ran her fingers up the back of Sam's head, sending a shiver down his spine. He bit his top lip hard at the thought of Mercedes using her hands and lips to help him, and it was tempting.

"Next time, Mercy—that ass is mine" He slapped her hard on her thigh, she immediately responded to the sting of it. Narrowing her eyes, she went in for a few more small kisses and with the last she tugged on his bottom lip grazing her tongue against it.

"I'll hold you to that" Mercedes rose to her feet, her brow raised at him as she started to fix her shirt. Sam quickly disappeared off into the hallway in search of the nearest restroom.

Mercedes tried to relax again, running her fingers through her hair to try and at least make it look like she did just have an almost session with her—her ?

She hadn't said anything about him being her boyfriend, but before this week was up she and Sam would be having that talk, among other things.


	6. Tiltawhirl

Sorry for the wait, really been busy these past days. I'm still getting notifications for this story along with my other one, which I'll update next. lol So thanks for reading guys.

This chapter includes a flashback-to the tilt-a-whirl. Enjoy-review- =)

* * *

**Chapter six. Tilt-a-whirl**

"Sam—I'm not riding that thing"

"Why not?"

Sam tried to give her that puppy dogface this time, but it was pointless. She wasn't going to move.

"Come on, I'll be right here beside you—you can hold my hand the entire time" Sam again tried to plead with her, but was answered with a poke to the chest and a final shake of the head.

"Puck needs somebody beside him" Mercedes pointed to the empty seat beside Puck, and before he could digress Mercedes sent him a shut the hell up puckerman look.

"I don't wanna sit beside Puck—no offense man" Sam frowned again, giving her hand another pull toward the seat. He almost made it to the first seat behind Tina and Mike. He almost won.

"Just sit with Puck—and I'll promise to ride whatever else you choose—just not this" Mercedes gave him one last pleading look.

"Anything—Mercy?" A devious smirk grew at his lips. Mercedes immediately caught the sexual innuendo of that one.

"Yes—now go" She backed away from the rest of the people that were entering the entrance gates of the roller coaster. She gave him another half smile and wave before he took his seat beside Puck.

Sam knew exactly what ride he wanted Mercedes to get on. Exactly.

While everyone else settled down to find something to eat, Sam and Mercedes decided to walk off by themselves since they spent every moment with Finn and Rachel and Kurt and Blaine doing couples games. Mercedes tried her best to talk Sam out of joining Rachel in her version of fun, but Sam agreed for the both of them. She silently cursed herself when she noticed Tina and Mike had already snuck off somewhere. "Fine—but I already know I'm not going to have fun." And neither are you if you keep it up, Mercedes thought. She put on her best phony smile and proceeded to be dragged along to play games with the rest of the glee club.

Sam sensed her irritated mood and decided to have fun with it, he had a plan to turn things around.

After Rachel's failed attempt at rock climbing, Mercedes decided to give it her best shot even though her heart was beating in her throat because of the scared of heights thing. She figured since she didn't get on the roller coaster with Sam, and he really wanted her to do this she would suck it up.

"Let me just check to make sure the cables are tight and secure—wouldn't want to hurt something as beautiful as you miss." A tech guy had seem to pay Mercedes close attention when he realized she would be going next after Rachel. He didn't even pay Sam any attention, placing his hands at Mercedes waist to make sure all her merchandise was secure. Mercedes smiled at his bluntness, but also at the death glares Sam was giving him. She didn't fancy the guy much, although his deep southern accent had made her swoon. Finn and Rachel just stood by and watched confused.

"Yeah, Mercedes—I don't think this is safe" Sam stepped in between the guy's hand and Mercedes waist, receiving a puzzled look from the tech guy.

"I mean, Rachel almost hurt herself—we shouldn't take any chances" Sam changed up his tone, though it still dripped with jealousy. The tech guy stepped back to take in Mercedes response.

It was hard not to laugh, but Mercedes complied and began to unbuckle the harness from her waist slightly happy she didn't have to go through with it. When the guy started to reach around and help Mercedes unfasten it, Mercedes caught the dry cough from Sam and the roll of his eyes. He was so jealous, and she loved every moment of it.

"Maybe I'll catch you around another time—miss?" He took one look up Mercedes body and bit the side of his lip, his tone lingering a question for her name. Which Sam made sure he didn't get.

"Yeah—not gonna happen." Sam grabbed a hold of Mercedes hand, practically pulling her away from the crowd that had gathered around the attraction. He just couldn't take it anymore, and his face showed just how aggravated he was. Mercedes now couldn't hold it in any longer, the laugh that escaped her mouth was loud and boisterous and she couldn't control it.

"What's funny?" Sam's cheek were turning pink and Mercedes couldn't even look him in the eye because they were filled with tears.

After a few deep breaths and a couple of I'm okays, Mercedes controlled her breathing to finally answer him.

"Why is that every time we go to an amusement park you have to do that?" Mercedes wiped the tear that almost fell.

"Last summer it was the pretzel guy, then the guy on the Ferris wheel—and the guy at the house of mirrors." Sam rolled his eyes again at her impeccable memory skills.

"I had good reason. First guy literally touched your ass, second guy just annoyed the hell outta`me and the last guy well—you didn't see the way he looked at you." Sam folded his arms across his chest; he didn't have an ounce of regret in his voice. Yes, it may seem that he was a bit protective over Mercedes but his instincts were always right.

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Sam." Her smile turned into a serious one.

When Sam's demeanor didn't change, Mercedes tilted her head and raised a brow at him.

"What?"

"I'm serious, you can't go around fighting every guy that looks at me. I like it that you're jealous, but trust you have nothing to worry about."

"Oh, believe me I know." Sam lowered his head to meet Mercedes half way into a kiss. He growled into it before placing his arms around her to roughly pull her to him. When she kissed back harder, Sam slipped his tongue into her mouth tasting the remnants of cotton candy.

"Come on—I just want to get on one more thing." Sam started to pull away, pulling Mercedes with him.

"Oh god, what is it now, Sam?" Mercedes entwined her finger with his. She began looking at some of the rides they passed wondering which one he would pick, in which she would most likely decline.

When her eyes set on the sign before her she smiled. It was similar to the one they had got on last summer but the colors were inversed of red, blue and silver. She looked the tilt-a-whirl over watching the smiling faces and started to remember how much fun she had last summer on the last one.

"Come on, cedes" Sam pulled her close to him as they moved up in the line. Mercedes sighed nervously and dragged along wondering how much prayer it would take to get through this.

Honestly she hated anything that moved at amusement parks, carnivals and whatever else that fell into that category. It started when she was ten and ended up on a ride called the spaceship 5000. After eating two candy apples, a funnel cake and a chicken on a stick; Mercedes was talked into riding the thing. The results were horrendous and that's all she'll remember from that day.

* * *

_When Sam handed their tickets in, he grabbed Mercedes hand to help her up the two steps. She complied with a weak smile, though her eyes never left the ground._

"_Trust me—you'll be find" Sam pulled her closer to him, placing a small kiss at the top of her head as they walked to an empty seat. Mercedes studied his green hues under his long blond locks, his smile gave her some courage._

_When seated and secured by the ride's tech guy, Mercedes buried her face in Sam's chest her hands fisting his shirt._

"_I don't want to do this" Mercedes began shaking her head, her voice muzzled into his chest._

_Sam laughed at her change in attitude, this Mercedes was new to him. She was always so together and well—a diva around him. He never got to see the somewhat scared and completely vulnerable side to her; and this made him love her even more_

"_Cedes look at me" Sam lifted her gaze to his, his finger rested up under her chin brushing the smooth skin there._

"_Nothing is going to happen—I promise" He leaned in to kiss her nose, causing her to frown a bit and then she relaxed._

_When the ride started moving, she tensed a little pulling Sam closer and started to mumble her last goodbye to the world. Mercedes was just about to give in and scream when she felt Sam's warm breath caress her neck. She leaned into him more when she realized what was causing the tingling sensation on her skin. His lips were planting soft gentle kisses up her shoulder into the curve of her neck._

"_See there's nothing to worry about" Sam slipped his tongue out, leaving a trail of heat up her neck and finally to that one special place behind her ear. Stifling back a moan, Mercedes tried her best to concentrate on what was happening around her. The other children's screams and the bystanders waves at them, but it was becoming harder with each kiss she received._

_She tried to keep her eyes open or she would miss the reason she actually got on this thing, but suddenly the only thing she could remember was to breath._

_Sam's lips lingered on that one particular spot he found, that would make Mercedes cave anytime and anyplace. Noisily he sucked and licked over it leaving yet another mark._

_It had only been a few days after they decided to take their relationship a lot further, did Sam completely take note of everything Mercedes liked and everything he loved doing to her._

_He somehow moved even closer to her, teasingly playing with her lips against his. Each time she moved to kiss him, he backed away and used his tongue to play with her. Mercedes eyes crossed from the frustration and she gave in letting him take control. Realizing he won, slid his tongue across her bottom lip and before she could accept he kissed her harder sucking her bottom lip into his mouth to release it and go harder again to pull it back._

_She completely forgot about the ride, the screaming children, and the people that were probably watching them. Mercedes didn't really care._

_When Mercedes finally opened her eyes, to see they had in fact stopped and the people around them were actually getting off. She looked up to see a smiling Sam starring back her lip-gloss smeared kiss swollen lips._

"_That was actually fun" Mercedes cheeks warmed at the thought, she really did enjoy the ride; from what she could remember of it._

"_I told you" Sam stood to his feet, taking her hand in his, he helped her off the ride and down the steps._

_When they started walking again, Sam wrapped his arms around her from behind walking in sync with her. They walked silently back to the parking lot when they noticed the clouds in the sky flashed with light. Sam figured they had a few minutes before the rain came in._

_It had been an eventful day with his girlfriend, but another day he would cherish for the rest of his life because it was spent with her._

"_Sam—" Mercedes hand played with the hair at the back of his head. His face nuzzled in the curve of her neck. "Hmmm" He replied._

"_Take me home" Mercedes turned around to face him, her eyes read his expression as she pulled him closer resting her chin on his chest. She rose up on her feet to plant of small peck on his lips._

"_Yeah—I should get you home before the rain starts—"_

_Sam stopped mid sentence when he felt her fingers slip into his waistband. He tried to stop the groan at his lips when he felt her fingers wrap around his member. It was suddenly hard for him to form words._

"_Mercy—godd" His heart spiked and the beating of it filled his ears._

_Mercedes had pulled him back, her body resting up against his truck she kissed him hard until his eyes fluttered close. His body already started to comply with the motion of her hand as his hips moved against them. She worked her fingers around him faster, steadying herself to unfasten his jeans with her other hand. But just as she did, she stopped all movement taking her hand away and with a gentle hand pushed Sam back._

_She narrowed her eyes at him and turned her back to walk over to the passenger side of the truck, leaving Sam stuck. When he finally caught his breath and was able to stop the throbbing behind his ears, he asked._

"_What was that about, Cedes?" A smirk had begun to form at his lips._

"_That was pay back for the tilt-a-whirl. Now you know what it feels like." She raised a brow at him. It may have been a few days but Mercedes was learning as well._

"_You're good. You know that." He joined her in the truck, the first few raindrops had started to fall when he started his truck._

"_If you want I can always so you how good I've gotten." Her finger mindlessly played with the buttons on the door, her eyes searched his. Sam quickly putting the truck into gear and pressing his foot on the gas gave Mercedes her answer._

* * *

"You coming, Mercy?" Sam tugged at her hand as she looked over the ride again.

"Yeah—but this time I'm actually going to focus on the ride." Her tone pointed toward the sly grin at his lips.

"Are you saying I was trying to get you on here for other an ulterior motive?" Sam questioned her.

"Exactly, Sam"


	7. Ambition

**Centered around Saturday night glee-ver, some dialogue taken from the episode. My apologies for any mistakes I missed, hope you enjoy. =)**

* * *

**Chapter seven. _Ambition_**

After the fail of an acting class from Blaine's older brother Cooper, the glee members were back into Sue Sylvester's booty camp.

Quinn came back as well and this time she brought a friend with her.

"I invited a friend to join us, you met him Valentine's Day—and he's got a killer voice" She introduced him.

Joseph from god squad stood beside her, receiving familiar grins and nods from the other members. Brittany shouted, "Teen Jesus."

Nevertheless, as quickly as the cheers started they died immediately when Sue finally entered the room.

They were expecting the harsh insults, loud outburst and physical pain—but not an apology.

Mercedes was actually glad she did not miss booty camp today; after gaining another member and good friend Joe—she herself felt things were turning around. However, most importantly she felt Sue's apology was sincere. Mercedes listened intently to Sylvester's uprising speech on how she was going to get the glee club's first win at Nationals this year and actually apologized for her verbal out lash towards them. Mercedes did not even need to say it, she saw Kurt give her the same simple glance from the side—this was the Sue they got to see when they were cheerios, they just didn't expect her to make an appearance.

"For instance, I said absolutely nothing about the implausible sexual tension between Mercedes and the Kentucky fried stripper."

Her phone vibrating in her pocket may have captured her attention slightly, but the words still hit her ears, as well as the silent whispers and eyes she felt burning into the core—

Before she could even respond to what was said, because trust she had a few words, she received the many sly and devious grins from the other glee members. Mike nudged her shoulder and whistled while Rachel rose a questioning brow at her. She tried to ignore the obvious, not deny it, but she would not give them anything to talk about. However, she witnessed the small grin that threatened to spread into a full on smirk across Sam's face. _Did he enjoy that_?

The next day at lunch everybody was talking about the bogus disco numbers they were going to perform this week, and furthermore dreaded the added booty camp rehearsals from Sue. She meant well, but after Blaine, Mike and Brittany's little show number the other members did not see this doing well for the upcoming competition. As if Mercedes wasn't already in a slight funk, she found herself having fun in the impromptu dance off competition. She kept her moves simple and when everyone else started having fun with it, since it was inevitable to get away from the disco fever everyone was catching—Mercedes found herself in the final three, with Finn and Santana.

For a day, she wanted to leave her problems at home and just focus on the now with the glee club—it was relentless to think she could do so.

She was told again, she had no vision, no drive, and no possible future. Again, she was fed the words of not having an actual dream, and it was exhausting. _Maybe this is a sign, maybe my father is right?_

* * *

Sam had been throwing random disco songs at her for the past ten minutes and she quickly started to realize. She didn't know any the of material, or fancied it very much.

"Sam this is pointless. Just pick a song." Mercedes pushed her tray aside.

He frowned a bit before placing his ipod on the table, he was really wondering where the frustration was coming from lately. After the little stunt in booty camp, Sam had noticed a change in her tone and mood lately and how she would just brush everything off dealing with her singing. It was like she didn't believe in herself anymore, and that hurt him.

"Disco. Inferno." Sam pressed play and handed her one of his ear buds for her to listen. When he tried to ask her if anything was bothering, she brushed it off with a simple smile and blamed it on her upcoming exams and impending application deadlines. It was easy now to see through that façade, when he knew she no longer held anything back from him whether she knew it not.

"I was listening to this song yesterday and I thought about you. The emotion of this song with your voice—would be amazing." Sam's smile grew, his green eyes searched her face nervously when he noticed Mercedes head started to nod along with the words. After she listened to the song a few more times and grasped the lyrics, Mercedes agreed and the smile that made Sam's heart flutter appeared.

"Sam, thanks" Mercedes wrapped an arm around him in a half hug. She placed a small kiss at his cheek, to quickly wipe away the lip-gloss, gathering her things she left the cafeteria to head to her next class.

He still couldn't help but bask in the fire he felt when her lips touched any part of him, the way his body reacted to her simple touches left him dizzy, especially since he was so close to getting her back. Things were slowly moving in the right direction between the two, and he had his own plans up his sleeve.

First, find out exactly what's bothering his Mercy.

* * *

He didn't have to question it long, before the next glee meeting, though he did try whenever he saw her in the hall way and got out of his class early to meet her at her locker. Sam figured, she would give in soon, also seeing more of her wasn't a bad idea.

Sam wasn't always right about a lot of things, but Mercedes singing Disco Inferno would be added to that small list. She was perfect, amazing, she was stunning.

Puck took a seat beside him, barely contained his exuberance and whistles—it caused a ting of jealously to stir in Sam, but even he calm himself when she did those moves that made a man wonder, wrapped in that evenly tight red dress. Whatever funk she was feeling, didn't appear now, and Sam wanted to be sure she saw it, taking his phone out to record her—_it was for good reasons_, he told himself.

To watch her, taking his advice made him smile but not miss the glint of passion in her eyes as she moved along side Santana and Brittany. He was having a hard time listening to the words, when she moved like that in front him. This was different, she sang but she demanded everyone's attention with her voice—something was different about this performance, it was like she was proving herself, _but to whom?_

"Send that to my phone…" Puck stood clapping appreciatively when the three performers came back to the middle of the stage, Sam noticed his eyes never once looked away from Mercedes, his Mercy.

His lips now in the tight line, he glared at his friend Puck warily before answering him. Puck caught on to the warning glare, he knew Mercedes was taken, everyone in glee knew she was taken, but that didn't stop him from being Puck.

"Dude, come on—don't be selfish." Puck laughed, before catching another glimpse of Mercedes in that delicious red number. Sam's face never faltered, answering him again.

"I have an announcement to make, contrary to current opinion—I do have a dream."

Sam witnessed the sass return to his lady's voice, her confidence restored but still he keep recording.

"See…my dream is Mariah, Miss Whitney (RIP), Miss Aretha…"

"Those are people, they're aren't dreams.." Mr. Shue countered. Sam couldn't help but narrow his eyes in aggravation—he held his tongue for Mercedes.

"My dream is to be like them…to sing big fat juicy number one hits that inspire people. But how is that supposed to happen? Even if I move to LA, I don't know what to do, or where to go…it's scary to even think about moving, all the way across the country."

The sass lightened, and the diva shrunk a little. Sam could see the words, he wasn't use to this person before him, but he knew the emotion well—she was afraid, she was scared, and he didn't know how to fix it.

"I'm moving to New York, Mercedes…" As if Sam didn't already want to chunk his phone at Mr. Shue's head, Rachel's voice egged him on even more. He was finally able to understand what was bothering her and Rachel as always had to bring the attention back herself—biting his tongue was becoming harder to do nowadays with Rachel around.

But he didn't miss a single word from Mercedes, already tuning most out he watched her pouring out all her fears for the future. A future he wanted to be apart of.

When he realized he was still recording, the wheels in his head started to turn and he made a promise to himself—he would show her how amazing, and talented she was. He would show her that she had the talent to be one of the greatest, she just needed to see it as well as her father needed to know and understand it.

Mercedes didn't say much after her performance, though everyone pretty much still praised her about it, she would smile and sink back into her thoughts. She told the truth, finally to everyone about her biggest fear—_but why didn't she feel any better?_

Sure, they were supportive of her dreams and goal of being the next biggest thing to hit LA, but she needed to hear those same endearing words from her main support system her family. Her dad a dentist, detested the words from her mouth as soon as he heard the words singer and LA drop from her lips. She spent many nights just wondering when it would be the right time to tell him that she got into all the schools of his choice—but that she had also been accepted to UCLA. He was convinced she was going to Ohio, and just like her brother and him was following in their academic stance of being a doctor.

That wasn't her, that was not Mercedes.

She looked over the acceptance letters time and time again to only fold them back up and put them away in her desk, only leaving the UCLA one on her vanity. A part of her hoped her mother would find it and the process would be much easier. She was tired of arguing with him about her future, she was exhausted on trying to always please him.

And today, she would put it all on the table.

**How many times are you going to tell me that sam?**

**Sent 4:54 p.m**

**##**

**Until you believe me **

**Received 4:56 p.m**

**From: Sam**

**##**

**Ya'know I neva properly thanked you for suggesting disco inferno.**

**Sent 4:58 p.m**

**##**

**Just add it to the list, we have much catching up to do..**

**Received 5:02 p.m**

**From: Sam**

**##**

**I would let you come over now, but the rents are on their way over, I'm talking to my dad about UCLA tonight =/**

**Sent 5: 06 p.m**

**##**

**I could still come for moral support? Your mom loves me**

**Received 5:08 p.m**

**From: Sam**

**##**

**If what I think will happen tonight, I'm sure you would not want to be around here when he goes off. I will handle it, but thanks anyway.**

**Sent 5:10 p.m**

**##**

**Fine, nd I would not care. I believe in you, so should he.**

**Received 5:12 p.m**

**From: Sam**

Mercedes tried her hardest to hold back the smile and giggle, but it was pointless. He always knew what to say to her. She read the four words over in her head, and even frowned at herself when she heard his voice over in her head, _I believe in you._

She started to text back something—but thought it was wrong to say in a text and contemplated on calling him, but at the last moment erased it when her father's car was heard in the garage—the automatic garage door startled her and she started to put the finishing touches to the dinner of chicken alfredo pasta she was preparing to serve. Taking the garlic bread out of the oven she quickly dusted her hands on the front of her apron and eyed the UCLA envelope on the island in front of her.

**And before I lose my nerve, I have a surprise to for you. 2morrow, Ms. Weston's room after glee**

**Received 5:18 p.m**

**From: Sam**

**##**

She read the message over in her head before tucking the phone away in her pocket, the lock on the door was heard and she took the envelope off the counter to place in her back pocket. She had to get this over with, and tomorrow she could tell Sam what she wanted to get off her chest as well.


End file.
